"I..." She frowned, forehead wrinkling. Why did she feel cold at the thought? But the answer was already there, she just had to pull it out.

"If it was for keeps. Then it would be, as you say, For Keeps. I would give my all." She couldn't remember what made her say that, but it was, she felt, the only thing that could possibly be said on that topic. Giving up, somehow was anathema.